Strand covering apparatus



Oct. 11, 1932- JANICKI 1,881,621

STRAND COVERING APPARATUS Filed July 7. 1950 YWW W Patented 'Oct. 11, 1932 UNITEDSTATES ,P-ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN JANICRI, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssICNoR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY INCORPORATED, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION on NEW YORK STRAND COVERING APPARATUS Application filed July 7,

' 1 This invention relates to strand covering 2 through which the conductor is advanced, one

end of the tube being formed into two axial blades or forks of difierent lengths which provide a narrow slot therebetween at one side of the conductor for receiving and winding the insulating material or threads about the conductor. One side of the blades are flat and offset slightly with respect to each other for engaging and spreadingthe insulating threads before they pass into the slot and onto ,the conductor, and the blades are tapered on the opposite side to provide a V-shaped channel or surface which irons the helices of the insulation'on the conductor. A collar is se- 'cured around the middle of the tube for supportingan adjustable hookeye which directs the threads from the supply up into the slot between the blades and onto the conductor.

A clear understanding of the invention will be had from the following description of one specific embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Fig. 1 is an elevational side view of the insulating guide, and a vertical ,sectional' view of the insulating head to which the guide A is attached;

Fig. 2, and

. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of this same apparatus; 40

' Fig. 3 is a detail front View of the blades of the insulating guide taken On the line 33 of Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of these blades, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals designate similar parts in thecseveral views, the insulation serving guide is disclosed therein as comprising a short vertical hollow tube 10 having its upper portion slotted axially at 11 to 1930. Serial No. 466,082.

form two blades 12 and 13 which on their back sides are provided with flat surfaces 14; and 15 (Fig. 4) slightly offset with respect to each other, and on their front sides are tapered at 16 and 17 respectively, (Fig. 3) to form a V-shaped channel or trough along which the electrical conductor is conveyed. Because of the fact that the blades 12 and 13 are tapered and form the V-shape channel it is to be noted that the blades will accommodate various diameters of conductor extending along said channel. A collar 18 split at 19 (Fig. 2) is clamped by a screw 20 around the lower end of the tube 10 and has two vertical lugs2t and forming an integral part thereof which are provided with horizontal clamping slots 26 and 2'? which may be closed or actuated by screws 28 and 29, respectively. A hook-eye 39 is threaded into the slot 27 and is secured therein by the screw 29 for guiding insulating material orthreads from a supply and across the flat surface 14 at the back of blade 12 which spreads the material out flat, andthen into the slot 11 between the blades. It will be understood that this hook-eye 30 may be similarly secured in the lug 24 when the insulating threads are to be wound around the conductor in a clockwise direction, and that in the position shown the hook-eye is adapted for counter-clockwise winding of the insulation. Flutings 31 and 32 in the front ofthe collar 18 are for providing sufiicient clearance spaces for the threads to pass from the supply to the hookeye according to whichever lug the hook-eye is secured, without contacting the collar. The blade 12 is slightly longer than the blade 13 so that when the insulating material is tied to the conductor in starting the insulating operation the longer blade may be used in cooperation with the operators finger to slide the thread down into the slot 11.

' The above described insulation serving guide will operate in any ordinary insulating head in which the insulation is held under tension. In this case the guide is shown secured in a split collet chuck 36 formed in the upper end of the familiar rotatable hollow spindle 37 through which the electrical conductor 33 is advanced. A spool of insulatthe spool 38. Due to the resilient support 'ing of thebrake washer is against the flange ing material 38, comprised of a plurality of silk strands in this particular case, is mount ed ona metal sleeve 39 which may freely rotate uponball bearings around an inner sleeve splined to the spindle 37, these two sleeves being forced downwardly by acol'lar 41 threaded to the spindle and PIOVlClQdWltll plungers 42 which engage the inner sleeve to prevent rotation of the collar with respect to;

said sleeve-andthespindle, Afian-ge 13 on the lower end of the freely rotatable sleeve 39iengagesa fabric brake washer 44 mounted in a disc 4E5 which is resiliently supported by a spring 46 resting upon' the bottom of a cup which is fixed to the spindle and surrounds 43 of the outer sleeve the. tension in the threads :or material 51, withdrawn from the spool'38 and passed up through the eyelets 52 and 53 on the cup and to the serving guide,

may obviously be'regulated by screwing the collar 41 downwardly on the spindle.

unused eyelets 54 and .55 on the left side of the c p 50 are provided for use when the materia'l iswound clockwise.

" Tnthe operation of the thread serving guide the material 51 is first tied'atits end tothe conductor 33 and-then slid down into the slot llflbetween the b'lades1'2 and 13, at the qsam'e'timeplacing the materialbl in the hook-eye 30 and adjusting the hook-eye in its threads in the lug '25 so that the hook-eye directs the m'aterial on an incline into the slot 11 in'a direction that the material will "naturally take when it is being wound onto or around the advancing conductor. The

spindle 37 with the cup '50 fixed thereto is at this timerotated counterclockwise as shown,

and the conductor .33 is advanced upwardly by means not shown. This rotation of the spindle 37, rotating with it the blades 12 and 13 whose tapered edges form the slot 11 "through which thethreads 51 extend, wraps the'threadsbl around the advancing'conductor 33in a spiralxdirection. The threads or -materiali51 is of course zunderregulated tens'ion'as aforementioned, the tension being provided by turning-the threaded collar 4E1 around the spindle 37 and forcing the sleeves i39and 40 downwardly until'the sleeve 39 supporting the spool of thread 38 has its flange 4L3 engaging the brake washer 44' a sufficient amount." The tensionedthreads 51 are directed by the hook-eye 30 over the flat surface 14' of the blade .12, and this flat surface spreads out the threads, silkit'hey hap- 'pen' to be in this case, so that the threads 1 T to assume aflat, ribbon-like form just before they engage and are wound onto the conductor by the blades 12 and 13. e i V Sincethe threads 51 are held under tension the threads pullthe conductor 33 over into the channel trough-likegroove formed by the tapered surfaces 16 and 17 of the blades The and against these surfaces, andthus these surfaces press against and iron down the helical turns of threads as these surfaces are rotated around the conductor to cause a finished uniform lay of the insulation around the conductor; In other wordsthe tapered surfaces 16 and 17 operate as a wedge into which the conductor is pulled, and this wedging action causes these surfaces to iron and 1 smooth-outthe threads around the conductor as the surfaces rotate around it. Of course the slot l-lthrough which the threads enter is sufliciently narrow so that the conductor will not possibly be pulled through it. It

is therefore apparent that the flatsurface of one of the blades of the thread serving guide spreads out the insulating material Q or threadsfwhile the opposite tapered surfaces of the two blades "iron the'material around the conductor, and that thehook -eyeB'O di-' rects the threads over 'thisjflat'surface and into the slot between the blades. I

When thethreads are to be served onto the conductor inthe reverse direction'tothat shown the blades are rotated in'the collar 18 a half turn and the hook-eye 30 is secured in the lug 24; so that whenthe threads are passed up through the eyelets et and 55 on the left hand side ofithe cup the thread will pass overthe' fiat surface '1'5'of the blade 13 and onto the conductor in place of over the flat surface .14: of theblade 12. Itistherefore believed'to be apparent that this serving guide comprising the two vertical blades andlthe hook-eye secured to the central collar is simple in construction and efficiently serves the purpose of wlndmg'and ironing the insulating threads evenly and uniformly on the conductor. a

Although the invention has been described in connection with one specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to belimited thereto, but is to apply to the scope of the appended clalms' r V v ,What is claimed is: V

j 1. In an apparatus for serving material upon a core, a guide comprising a. pair. of parallel blades extending axially of the coreifor 'winding the material around the core and spaced apart a distance less than thediameter of the core, one of said blades extending beyond the outer end of the other-blade to facilitate the threading of the serving material 1 between the blades.

2. In a guide for serving insulating mate rial upon an electrical conductor, a: tube through which the conductor is advanced'having a pair of'parallel blades at one endextending axially of the conductor which provide a narrow axial slot therebetween through which the insulating materialis fed forwind- 7 ing it about the conductor, said slot being open at the free end ends of the blades and one of the blades extending beyond'the free end of the other blade to facilitate the threading of the insulating material between the blades.

3. In a guide for serving insulating threads upon an electrical conductor, a tube through which the conductor is advanced having a pair of blades at one end forming a V-shaped channel extending along the conductor, the bottom of said channel being slotted longitudinally for receiving the insulating threads and Wrapping them around the conductor, said slot being open at the free ends of the blades.

4. In an electrical conductor insulating thread serving guide, a rotatable tube through which the conductor is advanced having at one end a pair of parallel,wedgeshaped blades extending axially of the conductor and providing a narrow slot therebetween for receiving and winding the insulating thread around the conductor, a collar se cured around the base of the blades, and a hook-eye threaded to the collar for directing the insulating thread into the slot.

5. In the insulatingthread serving head of an electrical conductor insulating machine, a

rotatable spindle through which the electrical conductor is advanced, a spool of insulating thread rotatably mounted around the upper portion of the spindle, means for resiliently resisting rotation of the spool to provide tension in the insulating thread as it is withdrawn from the spool, a tube secured to the upper end of the spindle and having a pair of narrowly spaced blades extending axially from its upper end to provide a slot for receiving the insulating thread withdrawn from the spool and winding it about the electrical conductor, one of the blades having its upper end extending above the upper end of the other blade to facilitate threading of the withdrawn thread into the slot, a split collar clamped around the middle of the tube at the base of the blades and having two symmetrically positioned lugs, each lug being provided with a threaded aperture, and a hook-eye threaded in one of said lug apertures for guiding the insulating thread from the spool into the slot provided by the blades.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of June A. D., 1930.

V JOHN JANICKI. 

